We, on the other hand, huffed and puffed and wheezed our way up to it in order so I could take some stock photos, only to discover most of Newbury, the town nearest to it, appeared to have had the same idea, so I actually came away with very few photos of use;
but I did manage to take a few by dodging hoards of excited kite flying children (which incidentally was lovely to see!);
This one for example has been badly cropped on the right side of the frame in order to edit said kite flying children out of the picture!
The castle itself was built in 1386 and withstood an 18 month siege during the Civil War, but was eventually forced to surrender and suffer the indignity of being mostly demolished in 1646. Now only the gatehouse survives, the back of which you can see in this (again!) carefully angled photo to avoid all the families munching on picnics there!
I have a feeling old Cromwell would have liked the fact that the castle is now freely accessible to commoners like ourselves!
Ruined castles hold such intrigue. It amazes me that anyone bothered to build them; there was always someone hiding around the corner, ready to take them from you!
ReplyDeleteI confess I'm absolutely fascinated by ruins, probably more so than the buildings had they been in pristine condition. I guess it's that lovely sense of time passing and leaving it's mark on things. I agree too - if you build something as large and imposing as that, especially if it's perched on a hillside for all to see, someone's bound to come along and want to take it from you!
ReplyDeleteCool castle... I love them as you know! Looks like you got some great pics inbetween kites and picnickers!
ReplyDelete